Lung protective characteristics of volatile anesthetic sedation.

Maria Alejandra Alape Moya, Lloyd Chen, Nancy Otaluka, Alper Gulluoglu, Daniel Talmor, Brian O'Gara

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Critical care (London, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Maria Alejandra Alape MoyaDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA.

Lloyd ChenDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA.

Nancy OtalukaDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA.

Alper GulluogluDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA.

Daniel TalmorDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA.

Brian O'GaraDepartment of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, 02215, MA, USA. bpogara@bidmc.harvard.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This narrative review serves as an update to previous reviews on the topic after the results of recent randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. It describes some of the latest evidence around the use of volatile sedation as an alternative to intravenous sedation in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and their possible lung-protective properties. Preclinical evidence supporting an anti-inflammatory protective effect of volatile anesthetics suggests that volatile sedation could be employed in patients with inflammatory lung injury, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Large randomized controlled non-inferiority trials of isoflurane for general ICU sedation have suggested that it is effective, with no differences between groups in safety outcomes; however, the results of a recent RCT in patients with ARDS have demonstrated significant harm with the use of sevoflurane sedation. Therefore, the utility and safety of volatile sedation in patients with inflammatory lung injury, including ARDS, is now in question.

Indexed as

Anesthetics, InhalationLungHumansIntensive Care UnitsRespiration, ArtificialRespiratory Distress SyndromeAnesthetics, InhalationIntensive careLung protective sedationMechanical ventilationVolatile anestheticsVolatile sedation

Identifiers

PMID41998735

DOI10.1186/s13054-026-05998-8

PMCPMC13218011

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.